Wire holder



April 26, 1966 F. L. BARNEY 3,248,089

WIRE HOLDER Fi led Dec. 13, 1963 IN VEN TOR. 7M a 3 United States Patent 3,248,089 WIRE HOLDER Frank Lee Barney, 173 Liberty St., lFredonia, N.Y. Filed Dec. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 330,443

1 Claim. ((31. 256-481 This invention relates to fences and, more particularly, to wire fences where wires are strung from posts for providing fences, lines, or wires for supporting plants or the like.

It is common practice to fasten wires to posts by nailing the wires to wooden posts, binding the wires to metal posts, or providing plain slots in metal posts to receive wires.

It has been discovered that by providing a unique type of support made of a convex member having a Z-shaped slot therein which provides spaced teeth behind which the wire can be disposed and an intermediate slot providing means for ingress of the wire, the wire can be readily inserted in the support and can be easily removed when desirable.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved fence support.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved wire fence support.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire fence support which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efiicient to use.

With the above and other objects in View, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the. invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a Wire fence support according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the support shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing spaced fence posts having the improved wire support thereon.

Now with more particular reference to the drawing, a support is shown which may be made of molded plastic or other suitable material. The embodiment shown is generally ellipsoidal in shape. It is convex on one side and concave on the other so that it actually defines somewhat of an open cup when viewed from one side. When used to support fence wires which are used as electric fences to restrain animals, the support 10' should be made of electrically non-conducting material or dielectric material and the wire of the fence fixed so that it contacts no part of the post.

A Z-shaped slot is cut in the support. The Z-shaped slot has end portions and 21 which terminate at end portions 16 and 20, respectively. These end portions are connected by an intermediate portion 14. Thus, the

Z-shaped slot defines two teeth 19 and 24, respectively, and these teeth receive the wire behind them.

"ice

Patented Apr. 26, 1966 In practice, the support 10 may be approximately two and one-half inches long and one and one-half inches wide, for example. Holes 12 and 13 are provided through the support. These holes may receive nails, screws, or tl 17e like for attaching the support to posts such as post 1 To use the device, Wire will be distorted so that it may enter through the intermediate portion 14. Then, when the wire is straightened or made taut, it will assume the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 behind the teeth 19 and 24. The wire can be easily removed by binding it and taking it out of the portion 14. When it is inserted into the support, it will be positively held against removal therein. It will be noted that when the wire is straight, it cannot readily be removed after it has been inserted.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claim.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

A line holder comprising a hollow body concave on one side and convex on the other side and defining a relatively thin walled rigid cup shaped member terminating in a rim adapted to engage a support,

spaced holes in said hollow body spaced inwardly from the edge of said rim and adapted to receive nails or the like for attaching said body to a support,

and a generally Z-shaped slot extending through said body from said concave side to said convex side defining two teeth,

the part of said slot defining the intermediate part of said Zshape being disposed at an angle to a horizontal and adapted to receive a line when said line is curved to be received in said slot,

said line, when taut, being disposed in the parts of said slot defining the ends of said Z and extending behind said teeth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 76,358 4/1868 Varley 174-158 X 316,812 4/1885 OBrien -175 3703386 9/ 1887 Gholson 256-48 423,336 3/ 1 890 Moran 256-4 8 462,443 11/ 1891 Machen 256-48 737,027 8/ 1903 Rutledge 174-175 1,217,032 2/ 1917 Lyon 174-158 2,310,434 2/ 1943 Hyman 248-71 2,447,251 8/1948 Huette 174-166 2,721,891 10/ 1955 Kersten 174-158 3,084,892 4/ 1963 Priestley et al 248-6 1 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,121,675 1/1962 Germany.

628,357 8/ 1949 Great Britain. 41,488 11/1907 Switzerland.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

